Homemade Jello Fruit Snacks Recipe

I think some of the first words out of my son’s mouth were “fruit snacks!” My son easily goes through a box of fruit snacks a week…. or more (don’t worry, I brush his teeth religiously). He can’t get enough of them! I decided to give homemade fruit snacks a whirl and he loved them! I found a recipe using gelatin and thought they would come out a little bit like jello jigglers, but they are the texture of fruit snacks and don’t need to be refrigerated! I used ice trays from the dollar store for my mold, but you can find jello molds at many dollar stores or WalMart.

Menu Plans

We know how hard it can be to get dinner on the table and that’s exactly why we created the Six Sisters’ Menu Plan program! We offer several menu options so you can find the plan that works best for your family. Each week you will receive a menu plan and detailed shopping list that will make shopping a breeze! Each plan includes 6 main dish, 2 side dish, 2 dessert, and optional side dish recipes. We’ve done all the busy work for you, so you just need to shop and cook!

Just click on the MAGIC button under the picture and then click on NUTRITION and it will give you the servings and all the nutritional info on the recipe. This is our new sister site - MyRecipeMagic.com. Hope you'll stop by and check out all of the great recipes.

So I used honey with the sugar free jello, which balanced the tartness with a healthier option. 2 tbsp added to the original recipe was sufficient. With the new sour gummie craze this was a hit with my 11yr old and friends. I also did one with stevia, but it still comes out tart, so I think next I will wait for it to set, spritz with water and roll it in the stevia for that sweet n sour candy effect! Hope this helps!

I wanted to make them with sugar-free jello but when I got home I realized that the regular jello comes in 3 oz boxes but the sugar-free jello comes in 0.3 oz boxes.....that's 10 boxes of sugar-free jello for one recipe! Did your friend use 10 boxes?

For regular jello at home I use knox unflavored gelatin packs and 100% fruit juice (no sugar added). I'll have to try it with just less juice for these, great idea! I always need the gelatin for my really soft nails.

I am not sure how long they will stay good for. I stored them in an airtight container on my kitchen counter for 2-3 days and they were fine. I am sure you could even store them in little bags. Thanks!

Hi Amy! I think you could pour them into a pan and cut them into cubes after they have set. Another reader said that they did that and just used a little non stick cooking spray in the bottom of the pan and they didn't have any problems with sticking. They were maybe slightly more sticky than a regular fruit snack but my 2 year old didn't have any trouble with them. Hope that helps!

Thanks for the great idea! I scoured the house for something to use as a mold, and ended up using the case that my alphabet stamps came in (60 perfect little plastic squares) and sprayed it really good with pam. They popped out easily with a knife! ...oh, and I used sugar free jello

Hi thanks for sharing the recipe. I just wrote about it on my site with photos of the candy I made. They taste awesome and I had great results. THis recipe is a keeper. I'll be checking out my dollar store for more molds next time I'm there. :) - Taryn Easy, Half an Hour Gummy Candies

Just a little bit confused on the directions -- after pouring the gelatin packets over the water, do you wait until the water is heated (and does it need to be boiling, or about how warm should the water be?) to stir in the gelatin, or do you stir in the gelatin at the same time that the water is heating up?

I saw these on good ol pinterest and just had to try it. I think I may have done it wrong, because it only made 6 small shapes. (i bought an apple shaped ice cub try) I'm from Canada and don't do oz. very well, so I tried to convert everything and they were soooo dense. My daughter wouldn't eat them. I put in one box of Jello and 3 tsp of gelatin. Does this sound right? Thanks for any help!!!

I am not sure how the ounces convert either. I just went by the amounts that were on the boxes that I purchased which were 1 (3 oz) package gelatin, 2 (.25 oz) envelopes unflavored gelatin and 1/3 c. water. I am sorry I'm not more help!

Just made them and they turned out yummy but very sticky. I think if I put them in a plastic baggie they would just mush together. I used a chocolate mold from Joann's and it worked perfectly, although I would recommend getting 2 because they was a lot more gelatin left over.

Made these today, did not come out well, I followed recipe exactly, but poured into a baking dish instead of molds because I didnt have any...were extremely sticky and had a weird texture to them, my son didnt have any interest in them. Not sure if I did something wrong, or if thats how they are...

Just made these with my two girls 9 and 6. I have used plain gelatin in the past. I did a couple of things different.First, I let the gelatin bloom in the 1/3 cup water for about a minute. I poured into my small sauce put until it melted and was clear and then poured in the flavored gelatin. Stirred constantly for about 2-3 mins until dissloved. I also used regular jello and sugar-free, they both worked fine. I hope this hepls those that a little bit of trouble. My kids say that it taste like candy. Thanks for sharing the easy recipe.

I was so excited to make these today and although they turned out just fine-they had a weird consistency to them. I used 1 package of sugar free jello (.3 oz), 1/3 C water, and 2 (.25 oz) unflavored gelatin. They tasted like a hardened piece of jello. I'm glad I tried it, but I wasn't impressed.

I use unflavored gelatin in many other recipes. Any recipe I've used that required unflavored gelatin required that the gelatin 'bloom' in the liquid for about 5 minutes before heating, to eliminate clumps. I would suggest that you sprinkle the unflavored gelatin over the cool water in the saucepan and let it sit for a few minutes. If you see any white/dry gelatin after a few minutes, press it down and let it sit for a little longer until it all looks translucent. It will turn into a weird-looking, firm blob in the saucepan. No worries. Add the flavored gelatin and being heating. It will melt nicely, no clumping.

Just made them a few minutes ago. From what have read so far they should turn out great. I just hope that I would be able to get them out easily & I hope my picky eater will like them too. Thank you for sharing this with the world. I am a home-school mom who is on a very tight budget. So I try to make ways of making snacks healthier, less expensive, not a lot of ingredients and easy to make with out all the fuss and muss. Again, thank you very much for posting.

Just made these! Easy, cute, and yummy! I spent a $1 on two silicone candy trays from Walmart that were perfect for these treats! I ended up with 24 grape and strawberry shaped treats, plus a little extra. For that, I sprayed a (coated type) paper plate with a little cooking spray. I poured the extra into a thin layer. In less than two minutes, it was a squishy fun fruit roll type treat that my three year old loved! Would be easy to do and cut into various shapes...and good for keeping busy while we wait for the others to set up! Thanks for the fun idea!

Thank you! I made this and it was so much easier and quicker than I expected.I used ice cube trays as my mold, and I had to let them set a little longer than you recommended, but it was still great!Also, I used V8 Fusion instead of water, and it worked perfectly! In fact, compared to the ones I made with water, the V8 ones were prettier and had much more flavor. They seemed to set up a little thicker too, which I enjoyed.

Fruit snacks are bad for your child's teeth,use the molds and make chocolate instead ,Chocolate is not only beneficial to your health with antioxidants known to help fight cancer,but the chocolate will dissolve in your mouth /teeth unlike gummy fruit snack which pull out filling and damage teeth by sticking in the crevices rotting the tooth.Good Luck with the dentist bill.

The only chocolate that is beneficial to your health is dark chocolate. And even then, the health benefits are negligible at best. The sugar content of any chocolate (except 100% chocolate) is going to be just as bad for teeth as fruit snacks. If you want the most and the best antioxidants, eat fruits and vegetables of all colors (not only green).

So I've made my own marshmallows in the past, first using gelatin as per the original recipe, and then later, replacing the gelatin with pectin, which is a nice fruit-based alternative to animal products... I wonder if pectin would work in this recipe also? Perhaps using pectin and fruit juice, like so many others have suggested?

I used one box of jello mango flavor and two packages of the knox unflavored gelatin packs. I wisked like the devil each time I added a pack of the gelatin, it firms up kind of quick. Also I used new ice cube trays and put like a spoonful in each spot and they came out great!

just made these, was so suprised, they came out great, super easy. I bought new ice cube trays cause I didnt get a chance to get molds, and that worked great, just poured a spoonful in each spot. I tried mango first, yummmmmm thank you. we grab like two or three store bought fruit snack packs each time we reach for them, they are expensive and go fast. This recipe is easy, inexpensive and fun, thanks!!!!!!

I have made these several times now. I use a large box of SF jello and a 1 oz box of gelatine with 2/3 c water. They are great! Love finding such a simple, easy to make sugarless, low calorie snack that also tastes great. Only takes a couple minutes to mix up and I have a great SF snack for when I have a sweet tooth. I keep a batch on hand in tupperware in the fridge all the time now. Seriously one of my best finds in 2012. Thank you to whoever shared this on Pinterest!

Made these yesterday with sugar free jello, no need to sweeten as they are sweetened with aspartame. I doubled the recipe and bought gelatin from the bulk food store and ice cube trays from the dollar store, as well as a candy mold. I used a shot glass (half a glass is 1 oz) to measure gelatin. I did spray molds with cooking spray before filling. I also did this in the microwave by boiling the water in a glass measuring cup (makes it a lot easier to pour in the mold) before adding the jello and gelatin, then microwaved again until dissolved.

Just made these a few minutes ago, they tasted really good but had the consistency of rubber! My teeth almost bounced when chewing them, what did I do wrong? Maybe I didn't let the jello dissolve enough - I will try again but my 3 year old took a bite and spit it out.

These are reminescent of the 60's & 70's .. we called it finger jello & pored it into a cake pan to set. Once it was set up, we'd cut into pieces or with a cookie cutter into shapes. The kids, grandkids always loved them. So do I!

Yes I'm wondering what the price comparison is for these. I don't seem to make too many, though delicious, for each batch. This is a great idea and allows for unique creations, but at 3 dollars for two batches, I wonder if I am saving money. Has anyone done a cost comparison by chance?

What't's old is new. When my children now in their 40's were small, I got the recipe from a magazine it was called finger Jello. Made it in a 13 x 9 cut into squares and dumed in a bowl and kept in frig. Wish I have a dollar for every square of the "Finger Jello" I made. Glad to see it's recirculating with a twist.

I just finished making some of these. I used sugar free Jell-O and apple juice instead of water. I poured the mixture into a mini ice cube tray (the tray makes 72 mini cubes) and it filled the tray 2/3 of the way full. One they were set I really had no problem getting them out, and I let my daughter try one. She loved it and ate a handful more. I tried one and found that they're not exactly fruit snack texture, but still not bad! I'm waiting for my son to get home from school and give me his impression, but I think this is a keeper!

Tried this. The kids loved the taste. But, I wasn't too happy with the execution... they turned out looking all frothy. Also, they set very quickly - - literally, as I was pouring it out of the pan. By the time I got to the end of the pan, the jello was coming out in strands b/c it was setting. I must be doing something wrong... I'm not sure if I'm cooking it too long or not enough. Do you know? Thanks!

Just tried this tonight, I used sugar free jello. Mine came our more like jello jigglers instead of a chewy snack. I put the water in, sprinkled on the jello/gelatin and stirred, it dissolved in about 3 minutes, did I maybe need to leave it on longer? The flavor was good (I used cherry so it was a little tart but I like that with the cherry flavor), but I was hoping for a chewy texture not a jiggly one lol. Any suggestions? Or is this recipe supposed to be jiggly?

The recipe should come out quite chewy. It may have to do with the sugar free jello. I know a few readers have mentioned having the same problem when they have used that type of jello. I would suggest trying it with regular jello and see how it goes! Sorry about that!

I tried these yesterday and today...they were great! We did Jolly Rancher Watermelon and Blue Raspberry. Super yummy and so neat to make your own fruit snacks. I was curious for price comparison though, too, so I sat down and did the math.

At my local Costco (Seattle area), Treetop Fruit Snacks cost $12.24 for 80 pouches. Each pouch came with an average of about 8 individual fruit snacks (not nearly as much as I thought! Some only had six!!).

When I made the snacks using a heart silicone mold (I filled them to the same depth as the Treetop Fruit Snacks for a true comparison; they are not very thick, which I had never really noticed about the store bought kind, but it's true, they're pretty thin) at home, I was able to make 60 fruit snacks from one batch using the above recipe. 60/8 (8 snacks in one pouch compared to TreeTop) is 7.5 pouches, so the homemade way makes almost 8 pouches of fruit snacks.

At Walmart, each jello box was $0.50. The unflavored gelatin was $1.38 for four packets. Since you only need two packets per batch, that cost comes to $0.69. So, for 8 pouches of fruit snacks, it cost $0.50+$0.69= $1.19, making one pouch cost $1.19/8= $0.14875, so lets just say $0.15. One pouch of Treetop costs $12.24/80= $0.153.

So basically, costs almost exactly the same. If you wanted 80 packs of the homemade kind, you'd spend about $11.90, only $0.34 less than buying store bought.

Pros about homemade vs store bought: -You can pick your favorite flavor! You can even create flavors by mixing and layering.-Much less packaging involved; less waste-You can choose your own design based on your mold

Pros about store bought vs homemade-Convenience-Not as sticky; a bit more chewy for those who like the chewier texture

These turned out great! My unflavored gelatin didn't have the weight marked on the packets, so I just assumed it was the right amount, but then when I mixed everything, the mixture looked way too thick, so I just kept adding water until I thought it looked right - I probably doubled the water at least. I later found out they were the right amount, so I shouldn't have added the water - but in the end it made more fruit snacks, they set up just fine, and aren't bitter even though I used sugar free jello, so I'd probably do it the same way again!

These should just be called gummies since there isn't actually any fruit in them. These really aren't all that better than regular fruit snacks since there's still a lot of questionable things inside the jello mix besides all the sugar. I can see just making these for fun but not as a replacement because you're still going to pay the same price (if not more) for these sugar snacks.

Thanks for stopping by! We like to offer all kinds of recipes on our blog. They are not for everyone. This is a fun activity to do with your kids sometime. We had a lot of fun with it last summer as we are always looking for different activities with the kids. Have a great day! :)

Hi! Thanks so much for sharing this, its really great! I just have a few questions about them. Are they supposed to be very sticky? Mine are!! And mine only made 10... is that a lot less than yours? I don't know what I could have done wrong.

Hi! We have had a few people say that theirs are sticky. I would boil them a little longer and you can use a nonstick cooking spray in your molds to help them slide right out. I also used very small molds so I was able to get more out of it. It just all depends on the size of your molds. Thanks!

I just made this, but I layered three flavors together! I did peach, mango and raspberry, and waited about 5 minutes before starting another layer so the flavor underneath could be partially set up. I layered the flavors in a 9x9 pan, greased with Pam. SOOOOOO YUMMY!! I think I will just leave them in the pan and cut some out as I want some:) I am a college student and can guarantee that this will be re-used! Thank you!!!

Made this with fruit juice (apple and grape, orange juice not so good) instead of the 3 oz flavored gelatin. Not as thick but still has a good consistency for fruit snacks and the kiddos loved them. Friend told me she would at a pinch of sugar, but we love them as is. One happy mama :)

now she is either shamelessly flirting with him (ever hear of subtlety?) or high as a kite. Tone the high pitch giggles down a knotch after everything he says would ya. we're only talking kids snacks. Nothing hilarious there.

I am planning on making some of these for my son's birthday party coming up, but had one question. I realized that with the ice cube molds I'll be using I won't be able to make the entire batch at once, but I'm not sure how to keep the rest of the mix liquid while the first round is setting. Any suggestions?

Know that this is an old post but I read all the comments and replies and still do not understand WHY these do not have to be stored in the refrigerator? It must be the chemical preservatives in the boxed jello?